Press Release Fun: Brooklyn Teacher Lab

Today’s Press Release is probably going to be mostly interesting to teachers in the NYC area. It’s awfully cool stuff, though, so if you happen to know of a teacher in the area you might want to give them a heads up.

I am very excited to share with you news of a project that is launching this week. This August, we will be hosting the first-ever Bklyn Teacher Lab: a free, 2-week course for classroom teachers happening in the Info Commons classroom.

The Lab is meant to introduce teachers to some of the many excellent (and free) teaching and learning resources available–both what is available to educators through the library and those freely available online. The course will also give strategies for resource use and application in the classroom. Applications for the Lab open this week and we will be accepting a class of 25 teachers to attend the course. 60 PD credits are available for teachers who complete the course.

Specifically, the Lab will explore:

Free Brooklyn Public Library resources to use in the classroom—books, digital archives, audio & video, primary source collections, and more.

The Brooklyn Collection—tools and techniques for researching Brooklyn history.

The Child’s Place for Special Needs—strategies and services for teaching to special needs.

Effective online searching—how to make the most of tools like Google, Wikipedia, and more.

Using fiction and non-fiction books, eBooks and audioBooks to grow student passion for reading and learning.

Free online tools for educational use—the New York Times Learning Network, the Digital Public Library of America,pbs.org, TED talks, and more.

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS)—practical applications of the new standards for lesson planning and student engagement.

Please feel free to circulate the following information to any teachers you think may be interested.

Elizabeth Bird is currently the Collection Development Manager of the Evanston Public Library system and a former Materials Specialist for New York Public Library. She has served on Newbery, written for Horn Book, and has done other lovely little things that she'd love to tell you about but that she's sure you'd find more interesting to hear of in person. Her opinions are her own and do not reflect those of EPL, SLJ, or any of the other acronyms you might be able to name. Follow her on Twitter: @fuseeight.

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About A Fuse #8 Production

Features everything from librarian previews of upcoming children's books to news, reviews, and videos. If it has something to do with children's literature, it will rate a mention here.

Betsy Bird is the Youth Materials Specialist of New York Public Library. She's reviewed for The New York Times and Kirkus, writes articles for Horn Book and SLJ, and wrote the picture book Giant Dance Party. You can contact her at Fusenumber8@gmail.com or follow her on . . .